British prime minister due in Ankara

(zaman) - British Prime Minister Tony Blair is set arrive in Turkish capital Ankara late on Friday to pay a surprise visit to Turkey.

Tony Blair is expected to arrive at Ankara Airport at around 10 p.m. today. The British premier will be received by Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The lifting of the isolations on Turkish Cyprus is expected to be one of the issues on the agenda of the Erdogan-Blair meeting, reports Trend.

Blair's visit will start just hours after this Friday's EU summit in Brussels, where EU leaders will decide on partial suspension of Turkey's membership talks. The British premier will leave Brussels for Ankara after the lunch with the EU leaders.

Britain, which is among Turkey's few allies in Europe, gives full support for full membership of the Muslim country to the 25-member bloc.